Basher takes the complex science of chemistry and provides kids with an introduction. Each chapter talks about different topics, from isotopes to elements to reactions. It has pictures on each page to go with the topic and the pictures contain a character wearing something that corresponds to the text. The topic explains itself using first person and the language makes chemistry simple and easier to understand. The characters are fun and the facts are very informative. With humor and creativity, this book is sure to help younger readers understand chemistry better. ( )

The author of this book makes a variety of chemistry topics come alive in short, crazy, funny stories of characters like the "obnoxious organics", "bright sparks", "lab rats" and the "nasty boys". Difficult chemistry topics like how compounds are formed, how chemical reactions occur, what are precipitates, ions and pH are all explained. Each story is accompanied by silly images of the characters. The book is grouped into sections, like chapters, with related chemistry terms organized into each section. This book makes complicated chemistry topics easy to understand and fun. This is a great read aloud book for any age group science class. It was the highlight of my 5th grade science class one lesson. The students really got into it and wanted me to read more. ( )

"Chemistry..." is a nice little reference for general chemistry terms. Terms are grouped together and defined in a fun and coherent way. Every term has an associated character illustration and definitions are easy to understand. This would be a good book to have in the classroom so students can quickly and easily reference terms they may come across in different readings. ( )

I enjoyed the way that the concepts were personified and I like that each concept was accompanied by an illustration. The text is clever and is written in a way that makes scientific terms simple to understand and memorable. This book covers the basic states of matter, chemical properties, instrumentation, chemical reactivity, and so on. There are also bits of trivia and history sprinkled throughout the book. I think this is a wonderful introductory book for chemistry. ( )

Chemistry: Getting a Big Reaction is a great introduction to chemistry for young science students. The book is broken down into eight chapters. The first, Basic States, discusses what is a solid, liquid, gas; the second, Nuts and Bolts, discusses what are atoms, isotopes, molecules, etc; the third, Nasty Boys, discusses what is an acid and a base, pH; the fourth, Lab Rats, discusses equipment used in a lab; the fifth, Obnoxious Organics, discusses molecules made with carbon; the sixth, Bright Sparks, discusses chemical reactions; the seventh, Earthy Resources, discusses resources given to us from earth, like air, seawater, and rock; and the eighth, Chemicals for Life, discusses chemical compounds that we need to sustain life, like water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ozone. All in all, I can see myself using this book in a classroom to begin discussion on specialized topics. I really enjoyed the review and the illustrations are little cartoon characters, which discuss information in first person, paragraph form that, I feel, would appeal to kids. ( )